"An interdenominational Christian renewal movement that began in the 1960's and has developed an international following, especially among members of the Roman Catholic church. It takes its name from the Greek word charisma, meaning "gifts," and emphasizes manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as described in First Corinthians, chapter 12, as a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The movement began among members of the Full Gospel Businessman's Fellowship, an independent Pentecostal brotherhood, but quickly spread to Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches throughout the United States. There was controversy over whether its elements were based on genuine expressions of worship or impassioned outbursts of emotion. For a time, charismatic preachers were labeled as charlatans, and worshipers displaying charismatic expressions were ridiculed and dismissed as ignorant or unbalanced. By the early 1970's it had spread to Europe and gained important support from Belgian Cardinal Suenans. The movement has been characterized by its acceptance of the importance of speaking in tongues (also known as glossolalia), divine healing and prophecies as part of the grace of the power of the Holy Spirit; most meetings are for prayer and spirited singing and shouting; anointing the sick with oil is also often part of worship service. It has become a meeting ground between followers of the older Pentecostalism and people who manifest the gifts but are members of older denominations. As the movement matured through the 1980s, a number of new denominations evolved from it. In time most evangelicals came to accept the charismatic movement and many of its practices. It is no longer unusual to see charismatics of many faiths—Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans—as well as non-denominationalists, raising their hands and arms in prayer, and singing, dancing, and shouting in the Spirit." (Source: www.answers.com/topic/charismatic-movement)

A POWERFUL APPEAL"It is a powerful appeal: the necessity to unite to rescue the world from a nuclear holocaust and to work together in the humanitarian cause of the poor and needy. And along with this is the equally irresistible power of a common mystical experience of "God" that frees one from the necessity of theological arguments and thus dissolves the basic conflict between religions. The charismatic movement is made to order for the new ecumenism and significantly it is the charismatics who are almost frantically pushing "the greatest move of unity in history." An integral part of this "move" is Protestant-Catholic "unity" which has Protestant charismatics overlooking fundamental doctrinal differences and embracing occultic practices. With the clear biblical warnings of a coming world religion (Rev 13:4,8) we do well to watch these developments carefully and to seek to rescue as many as we can from compromise that denies the true faith."--Dave Hunt (http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5939)